Feature – Page 4 – Unlikely Martha

Feature• Living

Girls Trip to the Blue Ridge Mountains + Vlog

Where are my 1979 babies?! The year of 40 is rapidly coming to an end, and I have a few more celebrations to attend before the majority of the squad are VIP members at the 40/40 club. There have been sleepovers, 80’s parties, and intimate dinners to usher in our new decade of life. A few weekends ago we took the party to one of the most amazing cabins in the Blue Ridge Mountains to celebrate one of the homie’s 40th trip around the sun. Speaking of sun… the sunset from this place was amazing.

We laughed, ate, drank, and spent some time exploring downtown Blue Ridge. We sipped wine at a local winery, enjoyed rum cake from an authentic Cuban cafe tucked in a little town in Tennessee, did a little shopping in downtown Blue Ridge, and ended our trip with some shopping at the outlets on our way home.

The cabin was absolutely amazing and had the most breathtaking sunset views. Sharing is caring, so if you are interested in renting this place… click here. We were fortunate enough to have clear skies both nights we were there. We even think a bear was lurking outside of the cabin on our last night there. Watch the video for details!

The weekend away was much needed. I value the time I have with my friends, we don’t get the chance to get together as much as we would like… cause kids and family but when we do it’s like we’ve never skipped a beat. I love my tribe so hard for not being “needy” or “complicate” we just get each other. We’ve already scheduled another getaway for after Christmas. We’re sure to need it by then!

The vlog from our weekend brings these words to life! There’s a cabin tour, and a look at some bear paws! If you aren’t already subscribed, please do. I post things to my YouTube channel that I don’t always share here. I’d love to have you join the family!

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Feature• Food

Cast-Iron Skillet Roasted Potatoes with Lemon Vinaigrette

Let me start by saying, anything in a cast iron skillet tastes good. This is the one I have (affiliate link) and I love it. If you have one, and it’s time to re-season it, here’s how I maintain mine.

Now that we have that out of the way, let’s get into these crispy, yet soft roasted potatoes.

This recipe works best with fingerling or baby potatoes. They are small enough that they cook evenly and the skin crisps nicely.

The ingredients are minimal, but the taste is mighty. You need olive oil, kosher salt, pepper, mustard, honey, a lemon, and potatoes.

The key to getting these right is to “flash roast” the potatoes. You simply start by adding the potatoes to a hot pan. From the last sentence alone, you should already know these are going to be good.

Lemon Vinaigrette Roasted Potatoes

Kosher Salt to taste
Fresh Ground Pepper to taste
2 lbs Small medley or Fingerling Potatoes
3 tbsp Olive Oil
1 tbsp Olive Oil (separate from the 3 tbsp.)
2 tbsp Fresh Lemon Juice
2 tbsp Spicy Brown Mustard or Dijon Mustard
2 tsp Honey

Preheat the oven to 450-degrees. While the oven is preheating, place an oven safe skillet in there to heat up
Toss the potatoes with 1 tablespoon oil, and season with kosher salt and pepper to taste.
Once the skillet is heated, place the potatoes in the heated skilled and roast for 20-30 minutes.
Mix the remaining 2 tablespoons oil, lemon juice, mustard and honey until well blended, while the potatoes roast.
Once the potatoes have finished roasting, drizzle the vinaigrette over them.

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Feature• Home

My One Day a Week Laundry Routine

I’m over laundry. Like so over it. I’ve tried so many laundry routines, and none have really worked so I’m doing the one thing I never thought I would do… I’m committing to washing once a week.

I’ve always been against washing once a week, because it just seemed that it would be an entire waste of a weekend day, but then who said it had to happen on the weekend, and then it dawned on me that if I did it all in one day and had it put away I wouldn’t have to bother with it again until the next week.

For awhile my process of washing two loads a day was working, until it wasn’t. The main problem was the children were in charge of folding and putting away, and with our crazy schedules by Wednesday no laundry was being done, and Addison was haphazardly tossing folks clothes where they didn’t belong. My Addidas pants were being put in my son’s drawer and vice-versa. There are few things more annoying than looking for your things and not being able to find them.

Couldn’t continue on like this. So, our new schedule involves me taking a day to wash and sort all clothing by owner. I’ll handle the linens and my husband’s clothing along with mine. The children are responsible for folding and putting away their own laundry. If dirty clothes aren’t in the basket when I come around to collect, they don’t get washed.

PERIODT.

We are consistently saying that as women we can’t be everything to everybody. I’m bringing your laundry routine into the discussion. They are old enough to fold and put away their own clothes so I’m putting that responsibility on them. I’ll have to relinquish control of the fact that they will likely be tossed into drawers instead of KonMari’d like I’d prefer, but you can’t win all of the battles. It’s more important for me to win the war on laundry rather than consume myself with junky drawer battles.

Here are a few tips I’ve found to actually work over the years as I’ve moved from one laundry routine to another… to another:

Every one needs their own laundry basket
When switching your laundry process, start with a clean slate, meaning wash all of the clothes.
Don’t take a break when doing laundry, just power through the process. If you sit down or stop, it might be a wrap.
Make it a point daily to pick up clothing that is lying around and put it where it belongs.
There are certain clothing items that don’t need to be washed weekly, like jeans or house clothes. Put those items on a separate rotation to help keep your laundry loads light.

I’m joining forces with one of my IG sisters, @MomSavingGrace for a series of videos where we will be attacking problematic processes in our homes. We’ll all get this right, or at least try! If you need a little motivation to get an area organized in your home head over and watch our videos! What does your laundry process look like?!

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Feature• Living

First Alert CO Alarm for Our College Student

Thank you First Alert for sponsoring this post. Know CO!

If you didn’t know we’re a blended family, and a few weeks ago we sent our oldest daughter off to college. I know you’re wondering how a 25- year-old couple is sending a child off to college, and my response to that is I don’t know either!

We traveled to Orlando to get her all cozy in her dorm room, and while I consider myself the “cool stepmom” I was legit in my feelings about her being an adult and living on her own. It’s like staring reality in the face that time is really moving far too fast.

I’ve been around since she was a small child, and while so cliche, it is so true… the years pass quickly. While we’re so excited for her to spread her wings and experience some of the experiences that will mold her adult life we’re a lot concerned about her safety. Every chance her father and I got we had to drop little life nuggets here and there amongst the aisles of Target and Walmart as we picked up her necessities. Our tag team don’t do this, and don’t do that reminded me of all those times when I said I wasn’t going to be like my own mother yet, doing and saying the same things!

There is a lot in the equation we can’t control when our children leave, but when it comes to carbon monoxide safety… we got this thanks to First Alert!

Her dorm is an older building and there is always the risk of carbon monoxide being an issue. Known as the silent killer, carbon monoxide is an odorless and potentially fatal gas. Being that it’s odorless the only way to detect its presence is with a detector.

Of course, no semi-adult teenager is concerned with carbon monoxide, but we are. First Alert’s stylish CO alarm fit perfectly into her dorm space. We didn’t have to install it, it has a 10-year battery life, and sits perfectly on her desk. One super functional feature is the LED display also displays the temperature… after all a girl has to know what to wear!

With the winter season on it’s way educating yourself and your family on the dangers of carbon monoxide poisoning is imperative. When it comes to keeping your home, and office spaces safe the First Alert CO Tabletop Alarm is the perfect, stylish, petite option. It may be small in size but it will protect you in a big way.

Knowledge is key when it comes to protecting yourself and the ones you love from the dangers of carbon monoxide. Here is some info on how to protect yourself.

The top 3 carbon monoxide safety tips are:

Never leave a car running in an attached garage
Test carbon monoxide detectors regularly
Install a carbon monoxide alarm on every level, and in every bedroom of your home.

She is a about a week into her new life as a college student and doing well. We are so proud and excited for her and her new chapter, meanwhile I think her father and I are still in our feels, but birdies have to fly the nest and spread their wings. Thanks to First Alert we have one less thing to worry about!

Thank you First Alert for sponsoring this post. Know CO!

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